South Korea’s exports hit record high on AI boom

What the report says

South Korea’s exports reached a new monthly record in September as global demand for semiconductors tied to artificial intelligence continued to rise, Al Jazeera reported. Preliminary customs data showed exports up 83.5 percent from a year earlier to $120.9bn, surpassing the previous record of $102.25bn set in June. Chip shipments were the main driver, rising by more than 260 percent to $60.3bn and making up nearly half of total exports.

The report said the strong performance extended through the first nine months of the year, when exports totaled $814.5bn, already above the country’s full-year 2025 record of $709.7bn. South Korea also recorded a trade surplus of $49.85bn over that period. Trade and Industry Minister Kim Jeong-kwan said the result reflected the strength of domestic industries and companies, while noting that global protectionism and tensions in the Middle East remain risks for exports.

The export surge comes as South Korea benefits from a global shortage of memory chips used in AI systems. The country is a major semiconductor producer, led by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, which together hold a large share of the high-bandwidth memory and DRAM markets, according to research cited in the article. The stronger chip cycle has also supported broader economic and market gains this year.